Disable Automatic WordPress Updates

  • Updated

There are good reasons to keep your software up to date, but updating on launch day for many software packages like platforms and operating systems can be risky. For those who favor stability over the latest features, disabling automatic updates for WordPress is often the best choice.

This gives you time to test Showcase IDX, along with your other plugins, themes, and other integrations, to make sure major changes in the WordPress platform didn’t affect them or their complex interactions negatively. Without disabling automatic updates, you then find out you have a problem only when your associates or users report it to you.

There are two main ways to disable automatic updates; via a plugin and manually. If you aren’t familiar with or uncomfortable with editing settings, you can make this change with a simplified plugin, described below as The Easy Way.


If you are familiar with developing WordPress sites or admin operations for your own page, you can follow the steps further along this page marked The Manual Way.

  • Step 1: Download an Update Manager Plugin

    There are a number of WordPress plugins available to help you manage updates, but we recommend Easy Updates Manager.

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    This solution enables you to easily manage updates for your entire WordPress site, including core files, themes, and plugins.

    To install the plugin, head to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New. Search for “Easy Updates Manager”, and it should be the first option. Click on Install and then Activate.

    Step 2: Configure Your Update Options

    Easy Updates Manager gives you easy control over the updates on your site. To configure its options, head to your WordPress dashboard and click the new Updates Options link in the sidebar:

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    This will take you to the Easy Updates Manager settings. If you want to turn off all updates, toggle the “Disable all updates” option:

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    You can also toggle individual categories, like plugins, themes, WordPress core, and translation. If that’s still not enough control, you can dig into each category and set preferences for every theme and plugin individually.

    Wordpress Core is generally the most important item to disable to ensure compatibility:

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    There’s no need to save these changes when you’re done. Simply set your preferences however you want them, and they’ll take effect immediately.

  • Step 1: Add Code to Your wp-config File

    To turn off automatic updates for WordPress core, you have to add the following code to your wp-config.php file:

    define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );

    To access the file, you’ll need to either use a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) solution (we recommend the free FileZilla client) or the file manager in your web host’s cPanel. 

    Once you have access to your site’s files, you can find wp-config.php by navigating to app > public. Open up the file and add the code snippet towards the end, right above the line that says /* That’s all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */:

    Now WordPress will no longer install updates automatically. This only applies to the core installation, however. If you want to disable updates for plugins and themes as well, proceed to the next step.

    Step 2: Disable Automatic Updates by Adding Filter Code

    To stop your plugins and themes from updating automatically, you need to add a line of code to your theme’s functions.php file. You don’t need a file browser or FTP client for this one – you can access this file by heading to your WordPress dashboard and navigating to Appearance > Theme Editor:

    Select your theme and open up function.php from the list on the right. Then, to disable automatic plugin updates, add the following code to the bottom of the file:

    add_filter( 'auto_update_plugin', '__return_false' );

    To turn off updates for themes, use this code:

    add_filter( 'auto_update_theme', '__return_false' );

    If you want to turn them off for both your theme and any plugins you’re using, simply add both lines:

    Now you have automatic updates turned off for WordPress core, themes, and plugins. You can mix and match these in any combination you like, in order to create an update solution that works for you. Article Source: (https://wpengine.com/resources/disable-auto-update/)

We do recommend that you enable auto-updates for specific plugins such as your Showcase IDX plugin.